My wife, Peggy, and I walk about four miles together each night when
we’re both home. When she is away or unavailable, I alternate a
faster gait with jogging. We do keep up a brisk pace together but, after
all, she has shorter legs, so I can cover more ground alone.
Recently, Peggy dusted off our bikes and we began biking again for
the first time since we’ve been in Missouri. Just the other day,
she had a flat tire when we were about to begin, so I eventually went
alone. I figured this was my chance to open it up and I did so. Then,
on a downhill, I rounded a curve going far too fast. I hit my brakes,
but it was too late. As the tires skidded from under me, my water bottle
went flying in one direction and I was pitched in the other, sliding
along the asphalt on my bare leg. I emerged without serious injury (except
to my dignity) but with some really impressive scrapes and bruises —
the most notable I’ve had in a couple of decades.
I decided that, although Peggy’s shorter legs do hold me back
some, it’s better when she’s with me. I’m less likely
to fall.
This whole helpmate thing the Bible touts really has something to it.
When I became seriously ill in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s, Peggy
virtually carried me. For four long years, while I was too weak for
full-time ministry, Peggy was my strength. She prayed, worked and held
me up. Though it was God who eventually healed me, He used my wife to
get me through the valley.
God knew what He was doing when He instituted the family. He cared
enough to make it clear in His Word how close husband-wife relationships
should be. He has a lot to say, too, about parent-child relationships
and the family as a whole. Those with an unsaved spouse or from a broken
home; those who have been widowed, deserted or never married; children,
adults, the aged — all of these can find significance and direction
in God’s Word.
The Pentecostal Evangel has dedicated three issues to this topic
because we believe the family is still important and there is clearly
a large-scale attack on it today. We must affirm the biblical standards.
But we must also affirm individuals who find themselves in situations
that are less than God’s perfect plan. God has not deserted them
and neither must the church.
I’m thankful for God’s plan. I’m better when my wife
is with me. We’re all better when we heed God’s direction
for the family.
— Ken Horn
